I had the opportunity to get out on a 4 person make up charter for tog out of OC, on The Reef Chief. I've never caught a tog before and have always heard they are a challenge to catch and will frustrate any angler by stealing your bait without notice and hangs ups are common, so I was excited to give it a try.
The ocean was a little rougher than the predicted 5-10knts, but we continued on. As we passed Little Gull, we saw a few boats working the area for stripers, including a couple that were Chesapeake style bayboats. I don't recall seeing bayboats out of OC in the summer, so I guess the bay captains move the boats to the beach for the winter? I fished out of OC, two weeks ago for stripers, and the number of boats was crazy. It looked like opening day on the bay. Once we got into the bite with everyone else, it looked like the scene from Jaws, when all the boats are hunting for the shark. Most people just had boat rods, as all of our bites came off the bottom. At times we were passing other boats, rod tip to rod tip. This week, was a very different scene with only a few boats on the horizon. Capt. Chris, dropped anchor on the first spot, but it seemed we were not quite on top of the structure. He tried to pull anchor and reposition the boat, but found the windlass was slipping. Unfortunately for the mate, Dean, he was stuck all day pulling the anchor as Chris got us on the wrecks.
After we got reset, Chris showed us how to bait up and proceeded to catch the first fish of the day. After getting used to the subtle bites, everyone began to catch fish.
We had a good bite for most of the morning, until the tide slowed. Then Chris and Dean worked hard trying out different structures and getting us positioned to be in the right spots. We continued a slow pick throughout the rest of the trip.
We ended up with 15 keepers, but everyone caught at least double digit fish. The biggest one was 11.5 pounds.
Fortunately, I only lost 3-4 rigs. The trip was a blast and hope to get out again before the water gets too cold.
FYI- Earlier in the day, we saw the coast guard helicopter flying up and down the coast but closer to shore. On our way in, we got stopped by the Coast Guard about 4 miles off the beach. They noted the light tackle and lack of parachutes and guessed we were tog fishing. After a quick look in the cooler and check of paperwork, they were off. Glad to see them out there. It layed down nicely in the afternoon. We did see a couple of boats running past us north of OC, so not sure if there are still more fish coming down the coast. We marked a few big bait balls on the way back, but did not have time to check for fish mixed in. Two weeks ago, there was bait, birds and boats, all along the coast, but today it was pretty quiet.
OC tog 1-2-15
Threaded Mode